Remember to Dream
by Omnicat
Summary: It's dreams that bring comfort in dark times, it's dreams that tie people's hearts to each other when they're on opposite sides... 'Missing scenes' about Himeno, Sasame and Takako.


**Title:** Remember to Dream

**Author:** Omnicat

**Rating:** PG (old), or K (new)

**Genre:** General, Angst.

**Spoilers & Desirable Foreknowledge:** All 13 episodes of the Prétear anime.

**Warnings:** None.

**Pairings:** Hinted Sasame x Takako and Hayate x Himeno.

**Soundtrack:** None that I know of, but please, for the love of fanfiction, tell me if you anything that would fit!

**Disclaimer:** Prétear is not mine and I'm not making any profit with this. This is fanfiction, people! Geeze.

**Summary:** One-shot, set semi canon. It's dreams that bring comfort in dark times, it's dreams that tie people's hearts to each other when they're on opposite sides... About Himeno and Takako, Himeno's point of view.

**Author's Note:** Set mostly during the anime cannon. If you read carefully, I'm sure you'll be able to figure out when exactly. It helps you understand all the symbolism better._ Expect lots of symbolism._ The parts in _Italics_ are dreams. Warning! You'll need to put a lot of effort in reading this if you want to catch the entire message:sweatdrop:

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**Remember to Dream**

"_Don't cry, Himeno. I'm here." Her mother stroked her hair. Himeno buried her face in the familiar scent. She wanted to stay like that forever._

_When she felt herself waking up, it was like her heart broke all over again._

---

Common superstition has it that you should never tell anyone about your dreams, because then they will not come true.

At least, that's what Himeno's father said when she wanted to tell him about hers. Her immediate retort was, of course, that if what he said was true, sometimes you _should_ tell them about your dreams. Because who would want nightmares to come true? Her father shook his head, complained that she gave him a headache, and went to look for a cure at the bottom of a sake bottle. Himeno didn't try to tell her father about her dreams anymore. She didn't even know if she really wanted to prevent them from coming true, or... she gave herself a headache.

Little Himeno wished her mother was still there.

---

_Himeno was sitting on a bench in the Awayukis' huge back garden. She was lost. Her new stepmother had a butler, didn't she? Taba- Tata- something like that. Why wasn't he here? Why were none of the people she'd love there?_

"_You poor thing..." Himeno said as the kitten approached. It was crying and shivered in her hands and became so small Himeno almost lost it before she tucked it under her pyjama top. It curled up on her stomach and let Himeno pet it._

_A figure appeared at Himeno's side, making the kitten's hairs stand on end. Himeno turned her head and jumped up with a wide smile, clutching the cat to her chest. "Mom, look what I found! It was sad, but I cheered it up."_

_The kitten hissed when it smelled the flowers in Mother's hair and jumped from Himeno's arms. It vanished without a trace._

---

Mikage told Himeno dreams were often symbolic. They reflected your past, present, and sometimes even your future. When Himeno said she hadn't dreamt in years, the pale maid was speechless.

---

_The kitten was back, but not with Himeno. It had gone to Mawata's room. Himeno pressed her ear to the door and went right through it. The small feline's eyes were an even brighter green than Mawata's. But just as hurt. Mawata was crying and looked lost. She clutched the kitty to her chest like Himeno had done before and Himeno left, feeling like an intruder._

---

It is said that you dream every night, even if you don't remember it the following morning. In Leafenia, they even say the dreams you don't remember never leave you, but wait for the right time for them to surface again. They remain in your heart for when you need them most, a basin of hope and strenght.

Sasame told Himeno that, a faraway look in his eyes that, for some reason, reminded Himeno strongly of herself. If it was true, she thought, then her heart must be chockfull of forgotten dreams. The only things that remained of the lively, poignant visions she'd have in her faraway youth were vague, confused emotions that slipped from her mind's grasp like loose sand, fading in the glaring morning light.

---

_Himeno and Sasame sat in a Leafenian field together, surrounded by colourful flowers and small heaps of ashes. Himeno was crying, and no matter how embarrassed she was, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her face._

"_I never meant to make you cry." Sasame said. His eyes were as full of the remorse he wouldn't show during the day as hers were of tears._

_Himeno knew. "Your new uniform isn't black. It's almost the same colour as Hayate's." she remarked. "It actually looks good on you, without the cape. But then again, I'm partial against feather boas."_

_Sasame smiled. "That's just like you... to say something like that."_

"_This is a dream, right?" Himeno looked around and picked a flower. It turned to a clear, multicoloured crystal that dissolved in a flurry of Leafe bubbles when Himeno blew on it. "Do you believe in what you told me about dreams? That they're stored in your heart for when you need them?"_

"_It would be a waste. I know exactly what I've been dreaming of every night since I became a true Knight,_ (1)_ and it's not helping me in the slightest. Right now, it has only led me to hurt all the people I hadn't hurt already..."_

_A long silence fell. The little cat appeared and crawled between Himeno and Sasame, mewling sadly until Sasame took it in his lap. Himeno saw its fur was white, except for a patch of black reaching across its ears, the top of its head, its cheeks and its neck._

"_Back again?" Himeno asked, scratching her silky ears. "You poor thing... always so miserable..."_

"_I want to help her, Himeno." Sasame said. "The Princess of Disaster... that's not the real her. But she's been miserable and alone for so long, I don't know how to get through to her."_

_The kitten looked up at them with wide, pleading emerald eyes. He stroked her cheek with a finger._

"_You've been miserable and alone too. Alone in your misery, even." Himeno reminded him. "I was miserable and alone too, once... I think we all were, at one point."_

"_What would you do if Hayate and the others didn't need or want you anymore?"_

"_I'd... cry and break down. You guys have been my strength, I don't have any of my own yet."_

"_Takako cried, too. But she's strong, stronger than she ever gave herself credit for. She wouldn't break, but bounced back... her own strenght had snapped, so she embraced the strenght she knew the darkness she'd faught so desperately to banish, held."_

"_I think... you did the right thing, Sasame. She needs you, just like I need the Knights... Hayate. He needs me too, did you know? But what about you?"_

"_All I need is Takako."_

"_She's lost to herself. You're helping Fenrir, not Takako."_

"_I can't leave her. She wouldn't be able to handle it. I was too late... but it can't be hopeless yet." The cat in his lap mewled to confirm his words._

_Himeno knew. "We really made a mess of our hearts, didn't we?"_

---

An owl flew against the church window, jolting Himeno from her sleep and scattering the memories.

Left with an odd, disoriented feeling, she questioned Kei during their prét. He told her that dreams were products of the activity of your subconciousness. You dream about what is on your mind during the day, so it's easier to deal with while awake. Her dream with Fenrir was different, but that had been more of a mind-trick than a real dream.

Himeno wasn't satisfied.

---

_Takako was curled up on Himeno's bed, her body wracked with sobs. Himeno wrapped her arms around the heartbroken girl, spooning them together._

"_Make it stop," Takako whispered over and over again. "Make it stop, please, make it stop."_

"_Don't cry, I'm here now."_

"_Don't leave me." Takako moaned._

"_I won't leave you, I promise."_

_Takako turned around and buried her face in Himeno's shoulder. "I'm so scared... I didn't want it... I never wanted any of this... They used me and abandoned me, and all I wanted was just -"_

"_- to be loved." Himeno finished. She kissed her. "You are loved, Takako. Open your eyes and you'll see."_

---

Himeno had felt like she'd lost the ability to dream years ago. She lived by the day, afraid to look back or ahead, to see emptiness. But when she needed them most she remembered all of her dreams, and they gave her the strength to become the White Prétear.

---

_The world was drenched in darkness, but all she could see was white, a shining, glistening white._

_Feeding Leafe to the Great Tree was like a dream. Flying, falling, fighting, she went through the motions while the impressions flowed through her. Her heart was filled with feelings beyond the present, reaching from the forgotten past to the unknown future._

_It was beautiful. She just needed to get hold of it._

"_This is the White Prétear?" Takako breathed. She took the hands Himeno offered her and held on tight. Smiling, Himeno put her down gently before setting off again._

"_Sasame." He could hear Himeno's voice in the nothingness. "I won't let it end like this." He took a first deep breath, hearing his own heart beat again. "Come, Takako is calling for you." And he heard Takako's heart, and Himeno's. Takako's was growing stronger and closer, while Himeno's faded away._

_She let as much Leafe flow as was needed, and saw her loved ones be healed, restored, and rise again. Her last touch was for Hayate, and she poured her heart and soul, all of her dreams into him, drawing him back from the edge and into her arms._

_White. Everywhere, a multicoloured, shining, blinding white._

_---_

_And then... Hayate brought her back with tears and a kiss holding all of his love and dreams._

---

When Hayate finally let her get up, her dress had long since molten away. She spotted Sasame and Takako and wobbled over to them, legs still a bit unsteady. Sasame rushed forward to catch her when she fell. She recognized the look in his eyes, though she'd never seen it while awake.

"Himeno, I -"

She cut him off by wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, taking him by surprise. "Not a word, Sasame. There's nothing for you to say." she whispered gently in his ear.

The rigidity slowly left his stance and he hugged her back, burying his face in her hair to say just as quietly: "Thank you. For everything."

When she let go of him, she turned to Takako. The poor thing was shaking like a leaf and she too wanted to ruin it all by opening her mouth. So Himeno caught her in a hug too, pressing the frail body against hers before Takako even knew what hit her. This feeling was familiar too.

"Mikage was always so kind... I want to get to know the real you better, Takako. So I'm not letting you go. You're stuck with me now!"

Takako laughed shakily.

Stepping back, Himeno pulled Sasame towards her and Takako, bringing their heads close together. "Can you remember what it's like to dream? To set off after your heart's desire and go on without fear of what is to come, and without regrets about the past?" She took one of Takako's hands and one of Sasame's in hers, and the pale young man and woman followed suit, forming a circle of linked hands and gazes and hearts.

"Remember the dreams we shared?" Himeno whispered, her voice only loud enough for the three of them to hear. "They turned into reality. We can make them come true now."

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**PSAN:** Eh, just to make things clear: when I say that Himeno 'hasn't dreamt in years' and 'never remembers her dreams anymore', I mean it. She didn't remember any of the actual dreams apart from the very first one. At least, untill she became the White Prétear. I thought it was a nice touch, something to partially explain the occurence of such a magnificent protector of Leafe.

Yeah... very symbolic, very obscure. I blame school for making me read too much 'modern literary work'. Meh. Goes to show you what happens when you write in the middle of the night. Probably not to everybody's liking, but if anybody appreciates it, I'd love to hear about it. Yes, that's a hint to Read and Review! Pretty please?

Additional Notes

(1) _"I know exactly what I've been dreaming of every night since I became a true Knight"_ – 'A true knight' in the sense of 'a Knight with a Prétear'. Because it isn't of much use to have the title of a knight without a princess, right? Personal fanon interpretation, ties in with my theory that each Prétear is bound to her own 'set' of seven Leafe Knights.


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